Sunday, June 13, 2010

I have really been looking forward to it. Let's (inaccurately) blame the opening of the Copa de Mundo for the fact that I've been in my pajamas all day and am just waiting for the pizza place to open so I can, without effort, feed myself. Yes, ahem, that's why me and thirty-some members of the Estrangeiros em Porto Alegre community stopped by to visit Danilo and Fernando at Zero de Conduta on Friday.

In hindsight, I am arriving at the conclusion that, as much as I adore their bar and their company, we cannot continue our relationship! This particular unplanned all-nighter included post-sunrise skyline appreciation at Morro Santa Teresa, a spontaneous supermarket outing to make a barbecued beef ribs for breakfast (like ya do), and the obligatory Saturday morning trip to the indoor soccer place. I felt (and looked) like the walking dead by the half-time of Saturday's USA x England match. I think I'm just going to lay low for a while. Uff.

[The generic Engov's I picked up in the Northeast, "Posdrink" and "Enjoy".

Yes. I did, thanks.]

But not for too long. I bought a cool new Brasil shirt in Recife which I will be sporting on Tuesday afternoon when, blessed with the schedule of an English teacher, I'll likely be perched in some dodgy lancheria with an unlikely-sized flat screen tube.

Vamo vamo Brasil!

Loquinha

P.S. Incidentally, I'm about to blitz the page with the continuation of my Northeast experience [pre-dated posts to coincide with my travel dates], so my day hasn't been completely for naught. Check back later and scroll down!

P.P.S. I just received a nice email from a Havaianas rep in New York who, apparently, follows the blog now and then. Cool. She passed along thesevideos, which did make me feel warm and fuzzy. These new World Cup Havaianas are sweet, y'all. And, New Yorkers: Check out the Havaianas World Cup parties!

"How did you end up here?"

All stories have a beginning, though not all stories have a clear plot. I chucked my U.S. life in 2008 and moved (yes, alone) to Porto Alegre, Brazil. In the spirit of courage, ambition, adventure, and curiosity, I set out to restore and recreate my Self. In the beginning I wrote under the quaintly misspelled nickname Loquinha Gauchinha, and My Life In Havaianas represented, to me, a new adventure.

In 2010 I moved to São Paulo, because, well, "Leap and the net will appear." I turned Paulistinha(but stayed "colorada"). Nets did appear --amazingly, but not surprisingly--again. Yet a year later I was on my way back to the States. A masters in US-Brazil collaboration kept me occupied and laid groundwork for later evolution.

Today, My Life In Havaianas has a new meaning to me. It represents a Self I recreated and continue to expand. It is a state of mind. A passion reignited. I'm ready to fill in the gaps. For now, you can call me Jenjinha.